Professional Bodybuilder Workouts

written by: Nicholas
• edited by: Cheryl Gabbert
• updated: 7/6/2011

Looking to start a career as a professional bodybuilder? If so, you need to workout like one. There are several things that bodybuilders do different vs a normal person who exercises, in order to get so massive.

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Bodybuilding

A career as a professional bodybuilder is not a bad racket. Bodybuilders make money from a variety of different sources. Magazine covers, sponsorships with sports brands like Nike, sponsorships with sports nutrition companies like MetRX, and contests all pay large dividends. Should you be fortunate enough to win a contest such as Mr. Olympia (one of the biggest bodybuilding contests in the world), you can expect to make just as much, if not more, than a medical doctor.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is a prime example of this. Many people believe that Arnold's career consisted of acting, and then being a Governor. However, it really consisted of being a bodybuilder, an actor, then being a Governor. That's quite the resume, considering he won both the Mr. Universe and Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competitions.

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Bodybuilding Workouts

Different workouts are for different things.

Bodybuilders work out with an objective to do two things: get huge, and get ripped. Professional athletes, such as NFL football players, work out with an objective to do two things: get stronger, and get faster. Using this as an example, you can clearly see how much workouts can differ from each other. A professional bodybuilder probably has arms two or three times bigger than an average NFL player. But, the bodybuilder could also be slow as a snail. Reggie Bush can run a 40-yd dash in around 4.33 seconds, something that no bodybuilder is capable of, and if they are, they're in the wrong sport.

The point is, to be a professional bodybuilder, you have to train very specifically for the sport. It doesn't matter if you can squat 20 pounds or you can squat 2000 pounds. All that matters, with bodybuilding, is that you look like you can.

A Sample Workout

A professional bodybuilder workout consists of lifting a lot of weights and lifting heavy weights. In order to get your muscles that big, like a professional bodybuilder, you need to constantly tear them to pieces and regrow them to be larger and stronger. Do this enough times, and you will probably have those arms that are two to three times bigger than an NFL football player. To tear your muscles, you need to lift heavy weights. To regrow your muscles, you need to take time and rest in between workouts. Here are a couple of exercises from a sample professional bodybuilder workout:

Arms

Bicep curls (barbell) - 3 sets of 8 reps with as much weight as possible.

Bicep curls (dumbbell) - 3 sets of 8 reps with as much weight as possible.

Back

Lateral pulldown - 2 sets of 10 reps with as much weight as possible

Legs

Squats - 2 sets of 8 reps with as much weight as possible.

The thing to note is, each exercise is with as much weight as possible and very low amount of reps. This will tear up your muscles, and allow them to grow more.

Want to learn more cool workouts? Check out the army ranger workout or the military workout.